IKEA India, part of leading Swedish home furnishings retailer, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Patrik Antoni as its next CEO.
Antoni, together with the Country Retail Manager & CSO (Chief Sustainability Manager), will further strengthen the company’s leadership setup in India, the company said in a release.
"Antoni will lead the company's ambitious growth plans in India, leveraging his 20-plus years of IKEA experience and deep knowledge of the total IKEA value chain. In this new structure, the CEO will take on holistic responsibility for retail operations in India and common topics across Ingka companies," it said.
The new CEO has experience in India, including a 5-year stint as Deputy CEO.
He was part of the initial IKEA India retail team that opened the first store in Hyderabad. In 2018, Patrik went on to be General Manager of IKEA Russia, where he led all of Ingka operations.
"I look forward to bringing my experience, energy, and deep commitment to IKEA's values to support our ambitious expansion plans, making IKEA even more accessible to the many people in India," he said.
Meanwhile, Susanne Pulverer, current Country Retail Manager & CSO, has decided to move on and leave her role and IKEA.
Pulverer spent over 8 years in India across 3 different stints.
"I am very grateful for the incredible years at IKEA with many leadership learnings and with unforgettable experiences in India, this beautiful country with its beautiful people. While now handing over to a new leadership, I am excited to start a new chapter in my life”, said Susanne Pulverer.
As per the company, the recruitment for Susanne’s successor is currently ongoing.
IKEA is in the second phase of growth in India. It started its retail operation in India in 2018 by opening its first store at Hyderabad, followed by Navi Mumbai and Bengaluru, and several other as Delhi-NCR, in the execution pipelines.
Earlier this year, IKEA announced a shift in its India growth strategy, by also opting for smaller store sizes for its expansion in smaller growth cities here and making it accessible to many more people.
In February, IKEA started online sales in Delhi-NCR and nine other markets ahead of its upcoming physical stores in Gurugram and Noida.
It plans to open physical stores in Chennai and Pune in the next phase after having operational stores in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru and two more coming stores in Delhi-NCR in Gurugram and Noida at its under-construction 'Lykli' centres.
